No care for those at care centres

 MORE than 2,000 Papua New Guineans of mostly Sepik origin have been living in makeshift shelters in care centres in the Bulolo district of Morobe for almost four years.  

Their situation is made worse by a sense of doom and uncertainty over their future. 

Where are they going to be resettled permanently?  

Unfortunately, the answer to that question seems still far off, if the sense helplessness and frustration expressed by the Bulolo district administrator this week is any indication.

The care centres, mostly makeshift shelters built with cardboard and tarpaulin and without water and sanitation, must be worse than any standard refugee camp.

District administrator Tae Gwambelek raised the issue of the conditions at the care centres after what appeared to be another unsuccessful attempt at getting a reasonable response from both the 

Morobe provincial government and the National Government to find suitable land to resettle the displaced people.

The hard truth about some of these “settlers” is that although they may be known as Sepiks (or of any other ethnic origin) there is nowhere else for them to go because of land shortages back in their parents’ homes or because settling in for them is going to be difficult given that they had been born grew up in environments totally removed from those of their elders. 

While some may have been reluctant to move because of such reasons, there are others who claim they have a right to live in the land of their birth because they are third or fourth generations of migrant workers who had contributed to the development of the district. 

They understandably had resisted any attempt to move them out.

Bulolo district is a hot spot in PNG where ethnic tensions have always boiled over resulting in killings and destruction of property.

PNG’s modern history is incomplete without a chapter devoted to the Bulolo and townships and migration from other parts of the country.

Immigrant workers either married local women or brought wives from their own villages and raised families on the two townships. 

Future generations of this group of hired workers became numerous and were perceived to be a threat to peace and harmony in the community for the locals and tensions began to develop and escalate into full scale battles resulting in bloodshed and destruction of property.

Our report yesterday highlighted a number of incidents in recent years that have resulted from such animosity between settler populations and the locals and even among various local ethnicities themselves.

The series of incidents from 2009 to 2012 has claimed a total 15 lives.  Without having adequately provided for the displaced population and maintaining long-lasting peace among the various factions there is a likelihood that further trouble may erupt.

What is of graver concern is the conditions under which the displaced people have had to live in since the major crisis of 2010 between Sepik settlers and Bulolo locals.

Gwambelek, whose administration is the first point of contact for the settlers to deal with government, obviously displeased with the response by both the provincial and national governments so far.

The district administrator was quick to draw comparisons between the PNG government’s attempt at resolving the Bulolo issue and its preparedness to assist Australia in solving an international refugee problem.

“We need to give priority to our own refugees, learn lessons from such issues first before involving in international refugee issues like in the Manus case,” Gwambelek was reported saying.

The situation at the Bulolo care centres is no different than that faced by 5,000 plus Manam islanders displaced by 2004 volcanic eruptions in Madang province.  

In both cases people have been subjected to living under conditions that affect them physically and psychologically for years while the government appears to be not serious about finding a quick and lasting solution to their plight.

The government’s ability to deal with its own people displaced by a natural disaster in Madang and conflict in Morobe are tests for its management of refugee-type situations.

Our people are watching with interest to see how the National Government will re-settle foreign refugees and integrate them into the local communities they are placed in.